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The Silver Anzac Matchbox goes home

O

O.C.

Guest
I always try to finish a story once I get my teeth into it.the story below is quite remarkable as it as opened up a bit about the Anzac history that was lost (and it needs further research)
A friend of a friend of mine found the box in the story below
This damp and dilapidated box containing ANZAC commissioned 'Gallipoli' matchbox covers was discovered at a former Birmingham silversmiths during late 2000. The building in Albion Street, Birmingham B1 was being demolished as part of a local area development. The area in which this box was found had been walled up since 1944 following WWII bomb damage. The fragments of paperwork found with the consignment of approx. 120 silver plated matchbox covers gave no clue as to why they had not been shipped to the customer. E-mail enquiries to the 4th Battalion ANZAC Museum have to date, yielded no response. The partly filled box is assumed to have lain undisturbed since the covers were completed in 1919. Many of the covers were damaged beyond repair.
 
A good friend of mine John Green from Australia was visiting Engand for a few weeks and I gave him two of the matchboxes and as we are both passionate about the Great War he decided they had to go home
Which they did when he took them and gave them to the museum in New South Wales
They had not seen anything like it before and now they have a pride of place in the Great War Anzac Museum cabinet
 
Rowan
I went to Gallipoli and found the 4th Battalion Cemetery at Lone Pine climbed down to it and paid my respects as that is were most of the 4th Battalion ended up as they were nearly all wiped out in the terrible fighting that went on there.
I will dig the photo's out I took and put them on this page
 
Scan of the matchbox so you can read the words better, I had to darken it a bit to get a better view of the wording
 
After speaking to Pom one of these Matchbox cover is going to be sent to New Zealand to be placed in the Museum their So we will have one in Australia and one in New Zealand
 
What a wonderful outcome Cromwell. Would you let us know if you find out anything else?
 
:angel: Isn't this just a brilliant site to belong to... It's just amazing what people find... And are always prepeard to share with others.

Thanx Crommie M8. :smitten:
 
Cromwell (with helmet removed) and friend Dudley at the 4th Batt.Cemetery Lone Pine
No one hardly visits because in is very difficult to get to either up from Gully beach or down to it by a steep rocky track which we choose to do, then its the long hard climb back up to the road
But how well cared for it was, and heartbreaking.
 
If you want a better scan of the postcard for friends down below in N.Z.&Oz drop me a line as I have reduced this one
 
Cromwell, that is absolutely fantastic. Thanks for sharing it with us. It means a lot to us Aussies and I know Chris will be delighted.
 
What a wonderful story and outcome Cromwell. If you are interested I have about half a dozen photos taken of the War Memorial and the Eternal Flame which I took at Kings Park, Perth, Australia in 2000. I'm afraid I can't post photos on the computer, but could post them to you. It is a very impressive place and there were avenues of trees planted by the families of those killed, each having a sign at the foot giving details of who lay there and where they were killed. Unfortunately I don't seem to have a close up of them.
 
Sylvia If its not to much trouble I would love to see them I will send you my address .
There is a bit more to add yet to this story about the episode at Gallipoli which I will put on shortly after another project is finished
 
I have managed to track down an old photo taken over 70 years ago of Lone Pine before the lone pine was planted compare the two photo's together
 
Isn't this just a brilliant site to belong to... It's just amazing what people find... And are always prepeard to share with others.
Click to expand...

This sort of sums up the definition of what being a real Brummie is

Smashing Work Cromwell
 
Hi Cromwell,
that match cover story was brilliant ,
You must have put a lot of work & time into it
looking forward to more of the story
Well done mate. Have passed it on to my Oz friends O0
 
:angel: Crommie mate we also have old and new pic's of Lone Pine Memorial also a statment about: the origin of the name:

Lone Pine (Turk. : Kanli Sirt )

Central Anzac sector. The southern 'lobe' of the 400 Plateau. So named because on April 25 the southern half of the 400 Plateau was covered in scrub about a metre high, with a single, stunted pine tree growing higher. The area was originally called 'Lonesome Pine' after the tree, and because a popular song in Australia in 1914 had been 'The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'. Fighting was fierce here during the first few days, the Anzac forces eventually being pushed back closer to the ridge along the seaward edge. The Turkish trenches then established were later taken and held by the Australians after three days of continuous and bitter hand-to-hand fighting during the August offensive. Seven Victoria Crosses were won here at that time. Today the largest of the Australian cemeteries and the main memorial to the missing Australians of the campaign is located here, over the site of the bloodiest fighting of August 1915.

We as a family cherrish this information in memory of:
Private GEORGE FREDRICK MABER 6/967
Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F.
Killed in action 25/04/1915
 
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Wonderful , we walked all over those battlefields even acroos the plains of Sulva as we went on our own under our own steam taking 10 days I swam over the wrecks of the lighters and will post a photo I took showing the wrecks just below the water line and another I have of of the wrecked lighter in the same place in 1916. I picked up a bullet riddled water bottle which I have
It was a hell on earth for all those lads and disease got them if a bullet or bomb did'nt
I tried to climb The Nek but could not as it was loose shale and I was carring no weight,those lads had to do it underfire with full kit. It was impossable and I (ask Pete) have scaled Thumb Butte in Arizona were the mountain rescue train
 
I had it pointed out to me that if any youngster that looks at this subject might not understand that in the days of the Great War matches were very dangerous as there were no safety matches, so if you have a box of matches in your pocket and you hit them, even a tap they would explode as they were made from sulphur most soldiers made covers for them out of the scrap brass shell cases to protect the box from getting squashed.The photo below is a matchbox going into the matchbox cover
 
Three other matchboxes I have in my collection 2 made by
H.T.Horton 37530 of the Royal Engineers out of scrap shell cases, what we call trenchart
and scatched on by him are the places where he went
Somme 16-17
Arras 17-18
Ypres 16- 17
 
The other side of Hortons Matchbox holder (is anyone a relative of the chap ? )
 
I could not write about the full horror of Gallipoli as most of the full details are in a number of good books that are on sale but what I can do, is this… As my journey took me to Lone Pine I can tell you briefly in my own words of the fighting, heroism despair and carnage that went on at Lone Pine.
Birdwood produced his final plans for the Anzac offensive at the end of July, which was to attack the Turkish forces at Lone Pine, which they had fortified by trenches roofed over with heavy timbers perched on a 400ft plateau.
All summer the Australians had been digging a warren of underground tunnels towards the Turkish positions at Lone pine and their plan was to get as close as they could up to about 30ft away from the Turkish positions, break out of the tunnels and storm the Turkish trenches.
The 1st Australian Division was as to lead the attack the 4th Anzacs
On the day of the assault in the heat of the day the afternoon on 6th August every gun the British had opened fire at Lone Pine which the Turks replied back with a barrage of their own with everything they had being thrown at the British, so it kept on for a solid hour and then ceased.
The Anzacs broke out of the tunnels dashing over the front line trenches of the Turks while the second wave were left to deal with the front line trenches that were covered in logs
Trying to rip them of while shooting through the gaps, all this was going on under a terrific bombardment of shrapnel shells and rifle fire from the North
It was utter and complete carnage as the two sides fought to the death, as darkness came the fighting was becoming more intense, and the casualties on both side were mounting up. Seven Victoria Crosses were won that day by the Anzac’s who finally took control of Lone Pine two days later
 
Cromwell,
bet the Royal Engineers Museum
Brompton Barracks,
Chatham would love that Matchbox holder
made by H.T. Horton
 
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